Noel Sickles

“Indonesia was abuzz Thursday over cartoons depicting Prophet Muhammad which appeared on an Internet blog, and Islamic organisations protested vehemently against the belittling of the prophet and called for the blogger to be arrested and penalised.” - Mohd Nasir Yusoff Above the Fold [Top Story] David Pirkola shooting suspect pleads guilty Link: Grand Rapids Press Nineteen-year-old James Muriel-Neal Thompson will face reduced charges in exchange for testifying against Jev

Zen painters believe in long, slow meditation before a brush touches the paper. Only after the artist understands the essence of the subject and reduces it to its most profound simplicity does the artist proceed to paint–quickly, decisively and with the minimum number of brush strokes. The above enso is a classic image for ink brush painters: a circle painted in a single breath, accompanied by vigorous and confident calligraphy. Asian brush painting requires the artist to make the maximum c

In 1655, the great English poet John Milton wrote in despair how, halfway through life, his blindness prevented him from fulfilling his god given talent: When I consider how my light is spent E're half my days, in this dark world and wide, And that one Talent which is death to hide, Lodg'd with me useless, though my Soul more bent To serve therewith my Maker, and present My true account... If he couldn't make use of his gift, Milton felt he would not be able to present a "true acount" o

The Best A Man Can Get Wednesday advertising strip day. One Dutch comic artist I met told me he loved the blog, except for the realistic stuff. So here is more realistic stuff. I love those Postum ads. They were started by Milt Caniff and Noel Sickles and although they are still in the same style, the art has been taken over by someone else. My guess would be either Alex Kotsky or Leonard Starr. Starr is still alive (and doing covers for the wonderful reprint series of his stille very

“It’s hard to read comic books as my time is now restricted.” - Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso Above the Fold [Top Story] Ken Hunter dies Link: Lew Stringer Longtime British comic-book cartoonist Ken Hunter died last Monday of undisclosed causes. he was 91 years old. Hunter drew a variety of strips for such comics magazines as The Topper and The Beezer. Stringer remembers Hunter’s work: The two serials I remember of Ken Hunter’s were Circus of Fear and Back to Zer

This one's been a long time in coming. Ever since David Stone Martin's work was first brought to my attention a few years ago, I've been under his spell. Looking at the broad spectrum of work being done in the field of illustration during the mid-20th century, David Stone Martin, with his signature ink line style and his powerful sense of graphic design, seems somehow to have successfully forged his own path. For the period in which he was most prolific, when he regularly received the most

Because of the intricacies of the contract process involved with securing a syndicated cartoon strip, author Fred C. Rodewald does not go into much detail about opportunities for illustration jobs in that field. His October 1954 article in American Artist mentions only that, "salaried employment for cartoonist, illustrators, letterers and mechanical men" does exist in the syndicate business. Luckily for us, there has been plenty of documentation about this field, and we have the benefit of frien

25 Books that I need to…” from a couple of days ago, here’s a list of books that I need or want to reread: Mage The Hero Discovered and The Hero Defined by Matt Wagner Grendel by Matt Wagner & various Promethea by Alan Moore and J.H. Williams III Queen and Country by Greg Rucka and various Doctor Strange by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko Batman drawn by Neal Adams Love and Rockets X by Gilbert Hernandez Scott Pilgrim Volumes 1-4 by Bryan Lee O’Malley Monster by Naoki Urasawa Akira by Katsuhiro Ot

I'd walk a Mile if I wouldn't be out of breath so quickly Wednesday Advertising Day. I have been scanning some earlier ads. These three are from 1948. The first one is a late installment in the Postum series. Mr. Coffee Nerves started in the late thirties and at one point was even drawn by Milt Caniff and Noel Sickles. At this point others had taken over, but the result is equally impressive. These two Camels ads are some of the earliest samples I have ever seen of the 'illustrator styl

“When an interviewer asks me why he should read graphic novels, my standard response now is to say ‘good lord, not you, you’re far too stuffy.’” - Eddie Campbell “I couldn’t care less.” - Steve Ditko, when asked by a reporter about the donation of his Spider-Man artwork from Amazing Fantasy #15 to the Library of Congress New to the website: a downloadable MP3 (39.1MB) of the “Gays in Comics” panel from the Comic-Con International in San Diego, moderated by Andy Mangels. The file

As I begin Day 2 of my porch-building adventure, Charlie Allen once again comes to the rescue with a batch of incredible historical illustrations by some of the masters of the mid-century. Many thanks, Charlie! Take it away... "Yesterday looked through several historical folders in my ancient collection of stuff.. Wish I hadn't folded all those clips in the old days.....never considered their use or value years hence! I'm sure I have more Dunns... but found just this Paul Revere subject for Han

I finished writing for today and was surfing around, getting ready to shut the laptop when I happened across this wonderful blog TODAY'S INSPIRATION which chronicles the work of past era's illustrators as inspiration for the next generation of artists... and yes, pulpsters. From a post on Noel Sickles with quotes by Alex Toth : "Okay, you all know what talent is: you know when you see it and when you don't. But what the hell is 'the touch'? you ask." "Oftimes it's hard to verbalize...